


billet doux

by doitsushine92



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-04
Updated: 2020-12-04
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:47:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,315
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27589069
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/doitsushine92/pseuds/doitsushine92
Summary: Donghyuck and Mark's love languages, told in five instances.
Relationships: Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Mark Lee
Comments: 30
Kudos: 228
Collections: Challenge #3 — soulmates





	billet doux

**Author's Note:**

> hii! this is my first time participating in a little wonder and i do it out of spite?? more likely than you think

1.

Mark returns to their apartment and finds a tornado has passed through their living room in the two hours he was gone.

"Hyuck?" he calls out, dumping his bag on the ground next to his shoes. "What are you doing now?"

A tuft of not-so blond hair pops up from behind the couch, followed by the rest of his body. Donghyuck grins as he beckons Mark closer, his hand stained with colorful ink.

"We're spring cleaning!"

"It's not spring yet."

Donghyuck waves him off. Upon closer inspection, he's reorganising a box full of miscellaneous items — that's what Donghyuck calls it, anyway; Mark calls it the junk drawer — and more than half of said items are on the trash bin on the floor.

"You see these?" Donghyuck asks, motioning to a bunch of ballpoint pens. "These are all dry!"

"Okay," Mark says, sitting next to him. Donghyuck wrinkles his nose at the stench of sweat coming from him, but doesn't say anything. "What brought this on?"

Mark knows he isn't cleaning because he wants to, or because he had some sort of burst of energy. Donghyuck couldn't bother less with the state of their apartment on a good day, leaving the cleaning to Mark. To see him so worked up, clearing out overstuffed boxes and throwing out the trash, there must be something going on.

Donghyuck shrugs, trying the last of the pens (it still works) before he redirects his attention to Mark. "Nothing. I just saw this box peeking out from under the cupboard and thought it was time to clean it out."

"Uh-huh. And what about the rest of the apartment?"

There is a box full of clothes lying by Donghyuck's feet. Half of their kitchen utensils are on the sink, waiting to be washed. Their dining table, as tiny as it is, has been buried under junk that Mark can't even recognise.

"These clothes are old, so I'm giving them away for charity — don't worry, they're all mine. Your stuff is in the closet."

Mark watches him for a second longer. Donghyuck's right cheek has splotches of red from zits he keeps picking at, and his lips are chapped and bitten raw. And he knows that Donghyuck hasn't been sleeping well, either, because he tosses and turns on their bed until the wee hours of the morning.

"Those things on the sink, you want me to wash them?" Mark offers, pointing at the kitchen over his shoulder. "Most of it is so old, are you sure we can use them?"

"We don't have to use them," Donghyuck replies, his eyes shining. "I threw out what was irreparably broken, and once we clean that, we can sell it."

"Cool," Mark nods and stands up, heading for the kitchen. He pulls on the hot pink rubber gloves lying on the counter, a house warming gift from Jaemin, and calls out over his shoulder, "When I'm done here, we can sort out that stuff on the table, okay?"

"Yeah, okay," Donghyuck grins.

~

2\. 

When Mark hobbles his way to the car, Donghyuck tries to mask his amusement by sipping on his iced coffee. The scowl on Mark's face tells him he isn’t doing a very good job.

"So," Donghyuck drawls as a form of greeting. "How was yoga?"

"Never let me go along with any of Mina's ideas," Mark grumbles. "Fuck, my knees are killing me."

"Your knees?" Donghyuck laughs incredulously, pulling into traffic. The cup of iced coffee sits between his legs, and he feels it dampen his pants. "What the hell were you doing on your knees?"

"Apparently, a lot of yoga poses take place on your knees. Wish someone had told me that."

Donghyuck feels a shit-eating grin grow on his face without his consent. He stops at a red light and turns his face to Mark, wiggling his eyebrows.

"Well, then I hope you show me some time, then."

Mark's response comes in the form of swatting Donghyuck's arm, even if the boy already spied a blush sitting on his cheeks. Donghyuck laughs and reaches for the water bottle in the backseat, uncapping it before the light turns green.

"Here, I figured you would be thirsty when you were done."

Mark takes the water and drinks three large gulps. Then, looking at Donghyuck, he says in a manner so serious it's almost funny, "I love you."

"Love you too, hyung" Donghyuck laughs.

Back home, while Mark settles into their couch with a pained groan, Donghyuck digs through their fridge until he finds an ice pack at the back of the freezer.

Donghyuck hands the frozen pack to Mark with a tiny smile. "We only have one, but you can alternate between each knee while I make dinner."

Mark's eyes shine, and under other circumstances Donghyuck would call him a sap. "Thanks, Hyuck."

"Yeah, yeah. Rest now, 'cause I plan on kicking your ass at Mario Kart after dinner."

~

3\. 

Donghyuck walks up to Mark at the quad one winter afternoon and shoves his hands up Mark's shirt without a word.

Mark yelps, cursing as Donghyuck's popsicle-like fingers grasp at his torso until he's comfortably hugging him, and Renjun makes a sound that's between confusion and disgust.

"Hyuck, what the fuck?" Mark asks. "You're freezing."

"It's so cold," Donghyuck whines, pressing closer. The beanie on his head threatens to slip to the ground, and Mark fixes it with one hand, the other coming up to tug at Donghyuck's scarf. "The heater went off in our classroom."

"Same," Renjun groans, pulling at his mufflers so they cover his ears properly.

"I heard the gastronomy students were selling soup at the cafeteria," Mark says. "Some weird project, do you want some?"

Donghyuck nods, though he doesn't make a move to separate. He's trembling from the cold, his nose an ice cube where it's pressed to Mark's throat. They're still standing in the middle of the quad, although the cold keeps most students indoors, save for the few stragglers hurrying to their next class. Mark was out here waiting for Donghyuck's class to be over, and Renjun was keeping him company. 

Speaking of Renjun.

"Gross," he says, wrinkling his nose. As if Mark didn't see him with an entire Park Jisung wrapped around him and acting as his heater two hours ago. "You're in public."

Donghyuck turns his head to look at him and sticks his tongue out. Renjun retaliates, his cheeks pink from the cold and a single snowflake on his coat.

"It's starting to snow," Mark comments, glancing up at the sky. "We should head inside."

It takes a second for Donghyuck to start moving. Mark's fingers are still tangled in Donghyuck's scar, and they graze the small mark above his collar. Donghyuck shivers, as he always does whenever Mark touches his soulmark, but then he pulls away. 

There is a spring to his steps as Donghyuck grabs Renjun's hand through the layers of their gloves and drags him in the direction of the cafeteria, and Mark follows with a smile.

~

4\. 

When Mark falls ill, Donghyuck musters every ounce of love he feels for the man in order not to tell him, "I told you so."

But it's difficult, because Donghyuck did in fact tell him so. He told Mark to stop walking home at night if it's chilly and to simply take the bus, he told Mark to drink at least two bottles of water for every energy drink he chugged, he told Mark to wear a scarf even if it's spring already.

But did Mark listen? Of course not. Now, Donghyuck is in charge of making sure Mark doesn't die of a cold during their long weekend.

"Drink this," Donghyuck says, handing him a tablespoon with cough syrup. He doesn't understand what Mark's deal is with pills and he won't ask. "How's the fever?"

"Fine," Mark croaks. "I think it's going down."

Donghyuck brushes the sweaty bangs away from Mark's forehead to check his temperature. As Mark said, his fever has gone down since Donghyuck last touched him, but he's still pale.

"Do you think you're up for eating something? I bought crackers the other day." 

"Crackers would be nice," Mark croaks, his throat clearly parched. Donghyuck passes him the water bottle on their nightstand wordlessly. 

"I'll bring them in a second," Donghyuck says, wiping the excess water from Mark's chin with his hand. "Along with another bottle of water."

"Thanks," Mark says, his voice so small it's barely audible. He's covered chin to toe in a blanket because he wouldn't stop shivering earlier, and Donghyuck faintly worries that the extra layer is more counterproductive than anything.

Mark's eyes are starting to slip closed. Donghyuck pokes his cheek gently until he opens then again, smiling at Mark's disgruntled expression. "You can nap after you eat, alright?"

Mark grumbles, but he doesn't argue, and he stays awake until Donghyuck returns from the kitchen.

~

5\. 

It's hard to say no to Donghyuck when he asks for something. This is a shared experience among all their friends, and that's what keeps Mark from succumbing to each and every one of his whims – Donghyuck already has enough people doing as he asks.

That's how Mark manages to avoid doing certain things, like when Donghyuck asks to go to the farmer's market just to try every sample of cheese they find (he drags Renjun along for that) or when Donghyuck wants to try the new escape room (Jaemin is the willing victim) or when he somehow ropes Jeno into bungee jumping for his birthday.

Mark can't think of any other instance he has said no, though. It's simply impossible to look Donghyuck in the eyes and deny him of anything he asks, especially when he can feel their soulmark burning softly at the prolonged eye contact.

That is how Mark finds himself watching Van Helsing for the third this year, nowhere near October. Donghyuck's head is nestled on the crook of his neck, his entire body shaking with laughter at his favourite scenes.

Mark is warm everywhere they touch. Their fingers tangle together on Donghyuck's thigh, and Mark is too distracted with their hand size difference to pay much attention to the movie. 

Donghyuck calls him out on it, of course, whining at Mark to look at the TV for once.

"I already know what's gonna happen," Mark replies, laughing at Donghyuck's disgruntled expression. "The brother survives but as a werewolf."

"You're no fun," Donghyuck grumbles. He doesn't move away, though, only nestling closer when the air conditioner blows air their way. "Good luck getting me to watch Spiderman again."

~

0.

Donghyuck always claimed they were soulmates.

Mark never really got it. He didn't contradict him because he didn't want to hurt his feelings, but he found it hard to believe; people never had an easy time to find their soulmates, and it didn't make sense for theirs to be right there the whole time.

At fifteen, half their classmates have countless of apps on their phones, posting photos and descriptions of their newly acquired soulmarks in the hopes of finding their other half. Mark, still as an empty canvas as always, helped a few capture their tattoos if they couldn't reach them, but that was as far as he participated in the frenzy.

(For instance, Renjun's soulmark appeared on the hollow of his back, a beautiful planet surrounded by a constellation of stars. He couldn't take a picture on his own, so Mark offered, even if Renjun seemed like he would rather be dead than there.)

As time passed, Mark began to worry. Donghyuck was still as convinced as he was at age 12, and Mark didn't have the heart to tell him that they would've already seen their marks. 

"You'll see," Donghyuck would say, smiling as if he knew something Mark didn't. 

As it turned out, he did know something.

On Mark's 17th birthday, right as the clock struck midnight, Mark felt something tingle in the back of his nape. He bolted out of bed, racing for the bathroom, and stood there, gaping at his reflection, until the realisation kicked in.

And before he could even think of telling anyone, there was a knock on his window, followed by a dull thud as Donghyuck's body hit his bedroom floor.

"Hyuck?" Mark asked, squinting to see in the dark. He knew it was him because no one else would break in through his window. Not even Jeno during his band-related breakdowns.

"Did you get it?" 

And Mark understood. He laughed, something close to delight and surprise, and said, "Yeah, I did. I'm guessing so did you?"

He didn't need to turn on the lights to see the smile on his best friend's face. He did, however, turn it on to help Donghyuck off the ground, and he couldn't help but smile back when he noticed the eager grin, the spark in his eyes.

"It didn't hurt," Donghyuck whispered, as if it matters. He's suddenly nervous, glancing away from Mark's eyes. "I didn't even check to see what it is, I just ran here."

Mark looked for him. On Donghyuck's nape, below his baby hairs, sat his soulmark: a sun and moon. 

"This is the sun," Mark said, tracing the outline with a finger, "And this is the moon."

Mark didn't imagine Donghyuck's shiver, and that was all the confirmation he needed. They always say that you know your soulmate by touch.

"I told you so," Donghyuck whispered, nearly vibrating out of his skin.

"Yeah, yeah, you told me," Mark laughed. Donghyuck spun around, grinning so bright it could split his face in half. "I never should've doubted you."

"You can still make it up to me."

Mark narrowed his eyes, but Donghyuck's smile was too hard to resist. He never used to fall for Donghyuck's one-liners, but he could make an exception this time.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you to my beta for all their help!!


End file.
